Council hopes to buy derelict school site

Almost $25,000 of rates are overdue on a disused school site in Whyalla, prompting the council to consider buying the property.

The school on Bevan Crescent formerly belonged to an Aboriginal corporation, which was deregistered in 2009.

Council's group manager of development services Stewart Payne says the council hopes to later sell the property to a developer.

He says on top of the outstanding rates, it continues to cost the council money.

"We've also had to purchase temporary fencing, we've had to undertake asbestos audits and air quality testing to determine the extent of asbestos problems in the building and determine if there's any risk to public health," he said.

"So we'd obviously want to be getting our money back."

He says the land could be better used.

"Well, it's right in the middle of an existing residential area, it's flat land, it's close to services, it really can be subdivided and used for housing without a lot of effort," he said.